Unknown
Author: Hassan
Date: 2019-06-06T04:58:49.183432+00:00

Ishwar Puri

HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS:
THE KEY TO HIGHER KNOWLEDGE

The Relationship Of Consciousness
To Knowledge And The Concept Of Reality

The Anatomy of Consciousness

SERIES III

Ishwar Puri

HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS:
THE KEY TO HIGHER KNOWLEDGE

The Relationship Of Consciousness
To Knowledge And The Concept Of Reality

The Anatomy of Consciousness

SERIES III

Published by: ISHA

All rights reserved.

This book is published under a CC BY-NC-SA license, which means that you can copy, redistribute, remix, and freely distribute sections of the book, as long as any derivative works or new resulting creations are not used for any commercial purpose and as long as you give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

License details: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Copyright 1983

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)

ISBN: 978-0-937067-02-4

HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS
THE KEY TO HIGHER KNOWLEDGE

The Relationship Of Consciousness
To Knowledge And The Concept Of Reality

An examination and exploration of Human Consciousness and its respective role in attaining knowledge of reality. Based on various lectures given by MR. ISHWAR C. PURI B.S., M.A., M.P.A. (Harvard University)

Electronic edition compiled and edited by Hassan Mehrabian
Originally compiled and edited by Leonard Ingram

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

Chapter One:

THE LIMITATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY    1

Chapter Two

THE NECESSITY OF HIGHER KNOWLEDGE

Chapter Three

MYSTIC METHODOLOGY:
The Technology Of Transformation (Part I)

Chapter Four

MYSTIC METHODOLOGY:
The Technology Of Transformation (Part II)

Chapter Five

MYSTIC METHODOLOGY:
The Technology Of Transformation (Part III)

Chapter Six

DYING WHILE LIVING: The Journey Within

Chapter Seven

THE ROLE OF THE LIVING MASTER:
The Key To Higher Consciousness (Part I)

Chapter Eight

THE ROLE OF THE LIVING MASTER:
The Key To Higher Consciousness (Part II)

Chapter Nine

THE MEANING OF INITIATION

INTRODUCTION

“Come to the edge,” he said. They said: “We are afraid.” “COME TO THE EDGE!”, he said. They came. He PUSHED them … and they flew.

(APOLLINAIRE)

Human awareness is crossing a new threshold even more magnificent and more beautiful than the one from the middle ages to the Renaissance! This new age of the growth of “human consciousness” will give birth to an entirely new specie of human being—“HOMO NOVUS”—NEW MAN. The “renaissance man” will look like a still birth in comparison to the man born of this “higher” awareness. A new kind of evolution has begun in humankind … the evolution of Human Consciousness! Evolution, in the somatic sense, is nearly complete and the next phase will take place in the realms of consciousness and the human mind! We are moving into a new era … a new time. Today, tens of millions of people are hungering and thirsting for a “HIGHER” experience of life than that which material prosperity has made possible. Material possessions, academic credentials and social status are no longer adequate to meet our human needs. A new need to be “satisfied”—inside as well as outside—has taken hold of the hearts and minds of modern men and women. Something “more” has come to be needed. Indeed, the sages and prophets have accurately foretold of this “second coming.”

Discoveries from the realms of modern science—physics, molecular biology, parapsychology, brain research and so on—evidence the emerging of new era in the history of mankind. Sooner or later, if human society is to evolve—indeed, if it is to survive—we must match our lives to our new knowledge. For far too long, love and logic have functioned independently of each other like the split personalities of a schizophrenic patient. We have been the victims of a “divided” consciousness too long, and at last, a synthesis of intuition and reason, of love and logic has become possible! Not even the intense growth of knowledge that took place during the Renaissance can match the “leap” in human knowledge which is now available to us. From science and from the spiritual experiences of hundreds of yogis and mystics, we are discovering a capacity in human consciousness for an endless awakening in a universe of endless mystery!

In this third series of THE ANATOMY OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS, I have tried to give some description of what happens when one is able to explore the depths of his own consciousness. The immensity of fulfillment of life that is derived from the journey within one’s own consciousness is impossible to describe! There is only one way to know anything about this flight to the highest levels of consciousness, and that is to make the flight yourself! So, “COME TO THE EDGE …”

LEONARD INGRAM
1983

Chapter One
THE LIMITATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY

It is said that philosophy is like a blind man searching on a dark night, in a dark room, for a black cat which is not there! Therefore, if you can find any answers through philosophy, remember that this simply means that your question was silly; that your question really did not have any significance; that it was not a question about “reality,” i.e. about that which “IS”! For answers to “real” questions, for solutions to “real” problems, you will have to go beyond philosophy! In fact, the more one confines his search for the “answers” to the mere study of “academic philosophy,” the more confused he will become by contradictions and its inability to directly and satisfactorily answer the vital questions concerning human existence. The realization of the necessity for a higher level of knowledge—knowledge which surpasses the levels of knowledge attainable by doing tricks with words, with intellect and clever reasoning—has become more and more apparent to modern man. We have come to realize that in providing us with solutions relating to the fundamental problems of existence, modern philosophy has become almost as helpless as a little child. Philosophy is drifting farther and farther away from its real purpose and is getting bogged down in futile discussions of artificial questions which are not of vital interest to anybody, which do not throw any light on the fundamental problems of life.

Academic philosophers are very good at categorizing things. Their whole effort is to put everything in a particular category—this is this, that is that. If you ask them a question, for which they already have an answer, it is good. But if a question is asked for which they do not have an answer, you are in trouble! Their whole approach to knowledge is mechanical! Academic philosophy is mechanical, and how can anything mechanical help you to become wise? They are no longer in search of the organic unity of life; they are no longer in search of the ultimate principle of life that sustains the existence of the trees, of mountains, of a rose and of each and every one of us! They are no longer in search of that unifying factor, in search of the Philosophia Perennis—the highest knowledge … the truth! As there is only ONE reality at the basis of the universe, seen and unseen, there can be only ONE ultimate truth which should be the object of pursuit by anything that goes by the name “philosophy”! It is the knowledge of this truth, “knowing which everything else is known” which is the goal of all “TRUE” philosophy.

As I understand it, philosophy is the art of knowing. Knowing life, knowing one self, knowing everything, knowing what “KNOWLEDGE” is and knowing the skills and techniques of the process of knowing! In this sense, philosophy and knowledge become synonymous, but the word “knowledge” has been used in so many different senses that it becomes necessary to clarify what is meant here by “knowledge” and “knowing.” There are many other words which are mistakenly considered to have the same meaning as the word knowledge. Some of the other words which we confused with knowledge are; information, memory, understanding, wisdom and awareness. In fact, each of these words actually represents different functions in human consciousness. We very often consider a “wise” man as being simply a man of knowledge. Or a man who has “good” understanding, as a man of “knowledge.” Sometimes, people who are able to pick up and store information in their memory are called knowledgeable people simply because they can reproduce this data like a parrot … like a computer! But, only when you are able to “know” something, in a manner which a computer cannot, will you have earned the right to be called knowledgeable! After all, the basic power for having all types of non-mechanical knowledge, including all nomenclatures of knowledge, is derived from human consciousness. Unfortunately, the word “consciousness” is used very loosely in modern psychology, and even in ordinary parlance; it is used to refer to the principle of human awareness in a very general way. We use the words “consciousness” and “mind” almost synonymously. This is understandable because the two are so closely intertwined in their expression that we can hardly distinguish between them. Nevertheless, it must be fully understood that there can be no “mind” without consciousness, because mind arises out of consciousness! Therefore, if one is not “conscious,” there is no question of one being knowledgeable or having any kind of understanding, wisdom and awareness! It then follows, necessarily, that human consciousness is the prime source of power that sustains all the functions and modifications of the human mind, i.e. memory.

Another lower form of knowledge—perhaps the lowest—is “information,” which is data gathered through the physical sensory system of perception. Our eyes see and our ears hear, our hands feel, tongue tastes, nose smells and so on, thereby enabling us to know what we are perceiving. This knowledge of our perceptive experience is basically just “information” about the experience. This knowledge is then stored in our memory, from where we can recall it and communicate it to others. In spite of the ability to recall and communicate this knowledge through words, it simply remains to be information! Next comes the sensory perceptions themselves… per se. Even without the use of the physical organs of perceptions, we are able to see, hear, taste and so on. In short, we are able to create experiences through “imagery”. Although the operation of the faculty of imagination is very often based upon the use of the information obtained through the physical sensory apparatus, at times, it can be original and unrelated to the information gathered through this manner. Knowledge arising from the sensory system of perception per se, is knowledge of a higher kind than that of mere information. It is this kind of knowledge which inspires great works of art, of scientific invention, of spiritual revelations, of literary breakthroughs and religious miracles! But higher than this knowledge arising exclusively from the sensory system of perceptions, is the knowledge arising from that part of mind which is described as reason and understanding. Please note that the human mind has the capacity to perform three different functions. The first, and lowest, is “sensing” when it picks up information via the sensory system of perception.

Reasoning, and the use of logic, is the second and a higher function of the mind. It is that part which does what we call “thinking”. All “thinking” involves the use of words. These words are nothing more than phonetic symbols having a certain connotation based on our association of ideas with them. Thus, the words each individual utilizes in his thinking process will have a unique and private meaning. No two individuals can have the same association of ideas with the same set of words. Through the process of recall in memory and through the process of association of ideas, words are used to create a logical cause and effect relationship in the thinking process. This mental process is continuous and is going on in ordinary consciousness all the time. This, then, is a brief description of the second function of the human mind, logic and reasoning. Knowledge acquired through this process, is commonly considered to be a higher form of knowledge than the knowledge which arises from information gathered through the sensory system of perceptions. Philosophy, as it is currently understood, is entirely based on logic and reason. Logic is the foundation of science, but not the foundation of life! Logic and reasoning are only applicable to dead things, because the basic method of logic is dissection, and the moment you dissect something, you kill it! Academic philosophy simply goes on killing people because it goes on dissecting man and dissecting the human experience into categories and parts! Therefore, if you want to find the meaning of life through the study of academic philosophy, through logic—you will never find it! The very process and method being used will prohibit it! Life is like a rose, like a flower. You can dissect it, you can “analyze” its ingredients and chemical composition, but you will then miss the most important thing … its beauty? You will not be able to find any beauty, any life, any fragrance … they will all be gone. There will be a few chemicals, but these chemicals are not the “rose”; these chemicals were simply the “situation” the “circumstances” in which the rose “appeared”! The “rose” has escaped and disappeared into an invisible world. Philosophizing life is like dissecting a dancer; do you really expect to find “dance” inside him? You will find bones, flesh, blood and so many other things, but you will not find a dance! You can cut open the throat of a singer, but you will not find the song! The throat is simply a vehicle, a medium. The song comes from a world beyond science or academic philosophy … beyond logic and reason!

The third and highest function of the mind is “creative” thinking. It is called creative although nothing is actually “created” except “new” patterns and designs! The mind simply picks up the various elements of sensory perception, churns them and then rearranges this information into different patterns and designs. This whole process is then called “creativity.” However, the mind creates nothing new. The contents gathered through the sensing apparatus remain the same and only a “new” pattern, a different “combination” of the elements of perception, are evolved. There are, however, certain times when the creative mind does overlap with “higher” awareness, which we will examine a little later. But for now, I will return to our examination of “knowledge” and its variant … wisdom. Wisdom is the growth of your own consciousness! It is intrinsic; it does not come from the outside. It explodes within you and then spreads to your outer life! When knowledge dovetails practically, or near practically, with the exigencies of human experience, it is called “wisdom.” It is something which must be obtained by each individual by his own efforts from the deepest recesses of his own consciousness! Wisdom, unlike information, cannot be “borrowed” from books, lectures and so on! The difference, then, between the “wise” man’s knowledge and understanding and the understanding of someone who is not wise, consists in the former’s ability to “correctly” apply his knowledge and understanding to the situations and problems of real life! A wise man is one whose understanding is “practical”; applicable to the problems of life and enhances the experience of joy, love and happiness! Wisdom results from a very highly developed capacity to “understand” combined with a very deep experience of life. The experience may not be long in years, but it would be significant in terms of its impact upon human consciousness. Therefore, wisdom is a superior form of knowledge, as it couples understanding with practical living. But higher than wisdom, is the fully developed human awareness available from the use of the faculty of intuition! It is direct knowledge of the entire human situation. It solves all the riddles of the mind and therefore, has often been described as the attainment of “total knowledge” or “total awareness”. When human awareness gets developed to this level, it provides us with total knowledge; knowledge which “surpasses all understanding?” Sometimes this level of knowledge has been called “transcendental knowledge” because it transcends the mental processes of ordinary knowledge, or sometimes this knowledge is referred to as “mystic” knowledge because it can be acquired by various mystic practices. However, no matter what label we give to this higher knowledge, one thing is clear. It encompasses all other forms of knowledge and gives a meaning and interpretation to them. Therefore, philosophy, in the truest sense of the word, must consist of the art and techniques of securing this total knowledge. And side by side with the quest for this highest level of knowledge, there has always been the simultaneous quest for higher levels of consciousness.

Chapter Two
THE NECESSITY OF HIGHER KNOWLEDGE

Any intelligent person who is capable of serious reflection, who is capable of understanding even the most elementary realities of human existence, cannot help but conclude that there is a great mystery hidden behind the universe, as well as his own life. And until this mystery is unravelled, life can have no real meaning and man cannot be at peace with himself. Nevertheless, there are some people who simply ignore this mystery and try to forget it by plunging into careers, families, or other distracting pursuits. But the “unconscious” presence of life’s unresolved mystery will continue to haunt them and poison whatever little happiness they are able to derive from this life. We have become so engrossed in our ordinary pursuits and passions that we are hardly aware anymore of the hard facts of life which stares us right in the face! If only we would honestly look at these facts, we would tremble. We would be shaken to the very core of our being by their impact. It requires only a little common sense and a little detachment from our engrossing preoccupations, to see how utterly meaningless and dream-like the whole drama being played on the stage of this world would be if there is nothing more to life; something “hidden” behind this otherwise meaningless passing show. Should we not try to go deeper into the question of human existence and its problems, instead of living our life thoughtlessly?

The deeper problems of life do not cease to exist simply because they are ignored! They will simply appear in the form of some other problem, more serious and far more dangerous to your peace of mind. When society ignores the needs of man’s spiritual nature—the need to know the truth—we are temporarily able to do what we like without any inhibition. But, sooner or later, the problem will reappears perhaps in the form of a nuclear war with the dreadful possibility of destroying this whole planet! Today, the world is at very dangerous point. Thirty-five centuries ago, a great continent Atlantis, disappeared into the ocean. Atlantis was the most advanced society on earth. Civilization had reached its highest peak, and whenever civilization reaches a great scientific peak, there is a great danger involved—the danger of it falling apart. Humanity is again facing the same danger. Scientific breakthroughs have made man very, very powerful. And when power is too much, and understanding is too little, power has always proved fatal. Atlantis committed suicide! Without higher knowledge, scientific growth is dangerous. The whole world is in a state of chaos. Society is uprooted and life looks meaningless. Moral values are disappearing and a great darkness of evil surrounds us. Our sense of direction is lost. We simply feel that life is accidental. There seems to be no purpose, no significance; life appears to be just a by-product of chance. It seems as if existence does not care about you. It seems that whatsoever you are doing is futile, routine and mechanical. Life seems to be pointless. You don’t know who you are, where you are, why you are. Everything seems to be accidental. You feel like a piece of driftwood with no direction; without even a “sense” of direction! Where are you going? Why were you even born? For what? These answers you do not know. The question mark is there all over your face, why? The reason is because you have not looked into the deepest core of your being? You have not unravelled the mystery which surrounds your being and very existence, and there can be no real peace in life until and unless the answers to these questions are known!

The answers to all questions lie within ourselves, lie within our own consciousness. I have taken a long time to make such a simple statement as this: THAT ALL ANSWERS LIE WITHIN US. And yet, I am not satisfied that I have said enough! Still, I am not sure if you will really look within yourself to find the answers. Even if sometimes the desire to search within arises, you again start searching outside. You may still like to read books or listen to lectures to get the answers. Lectures and books, however good they might be, are still outside! They are not within you! Sometimes you go to this place or that place, but why are you going to these places! Somebody goes to India, somebody to Tibet and so on, but still the search remains somewhere outside! So, even when the right desire arises you move in the wrong direction! If you really want to know who you are, you need not ask anybody else. Nobody can answer this question except you! And even If someone answers, the answer will not be “your” answer! At the most, it will be information, and information is futile because it is not “KNOWING”! Not only will this “Information” be of no help to you, it will simply create more confusion in you! Therefore, the correct process is first to “GO WITHIN” and then go to these lectures, holy lands and so on! These things will then serve as a “witness” to your experience. They will authenticate what you already “know”, and you will be able to verify their authenticity. Otherwise, all reading, studying, attending lectures and so on, are going to simply create more and more confusion! How will you be able to interpret their validity? You cannot understand more than you have experienced. You can “understand” only that much which you have known on your own, which you—yourself—have experienced.

Consciousness, which is the creator of all experiences, is inside us … within our own self, and all answers must come from there. The teacher, the “Guru,” the master is within ourself and we have to discover him within. But we have become so accustomed to searching outside that the master residing within us must come outside! He comes outside to talk to us—not because the “truth” is outside—but because we will look nowhere else. He says, “I waited for you for a long time within, but you never turned your attention within! What could I do? I became impatient, that is why I have come outside to talk to you! But I am only the ‘image’ of the teacher. The real teacher still remains inside you. My role is to ‘push’ you back to your own self!” Hence, the outer master does not impart mere “information” … he imparts “being”! He does not make you more knowledgeable, he makes you more “aware”, more meditative. He will not just give you theories, hypotheses and “academic philosophy”; he will throw you back to your own self, again and again! Sometimes he has to do this in spite of you! Because you want to cling to some “philosophy”, you want clear-cut, ready-made answers; some kind of dogma or doctrine to believe in! Yet, the master will refuse to give you any dogma or theology. In fact, he will take all these ideas from you slowly, and slowly he will leave you totally naked! Then you will see yourself as you are and not according to some doctrine … but as you actually are! All this happens within you and you need not go anywhere else. What, however, is this business of going within? Can there be a “methodology” for going within, and if so, what?

Chapter Three
MYSTIC METHODOLOGY:
The Technology Of Transformation
(Part I)

The saints and mystics have presented a concept of man that is not easily accepted by most people in the world. The concept is that man, in essence, consists of “pure” consciousness, which is simply functioning through various “coverings” picked up in its descent down into this physical world. Self-realization can be attained simply by removing, one by one, these various covers. Therefore, let us briefly see what these various covers upon the self are, and how we got them and how these saints and mystics say they can be removed. According to the analysis of the mystics, what we call the “self” is the totality of our own consciousness. When this “total consciousness” individuates (splits into many pieces), we call each of those pieces a “soul”. The eastern philosophers and mystics have called it the “atman”—individuated consciousness. Next comes the functioning of this individuated conscious soul through the first cover, the causal body. The causal body is so called because it “causes” all things to happen! Frequently, it is more simply referred to as the mind. There is no distinction between the two. No experience takes place in time, space and causation, except through the agency of the causal body—the human mind. Just as there is only one single, total consciousness that we call the self or “soul”, similarly, there is but one “single” human mind that has been called “universal mind”.

Just as the single, total consciousness individuates itself into individual souls, in the same way, universal mind also individuates itself and becomes an individual mind and has the experience of interacting with other minds! In the eastern school of philosophy, universal mind has been called the level of “Brahman”—the creator. All things are created from this level. So, in its descent, the soul picks up the universal mind and together with it, continues its descent into the “creation”. So, from this point on, below the level of the Brahman or “causal level,” the soul—individuated total consciousness—travels with a cover of the individuated mind over it. Thereafter, all the functions of human consciousness take place through the agency of the human mind. Next, this consciousness contained in the mind, is further split into what is called the “sensory system.” When we experience an event through this sensory cover, it causes us to regard the singular and direct experience of the mind as a split-up experience consisting of hearing, tasting, seeing, touching and so on. In fact, the sensory systems of perception are merely devices in awareness to simply “expand” an experience by dividing it into parts.

Therefore, this division of the mind into sensory functions constitutes yet another cover upon the soul which is very often called the “astral body.” This whole complex is then called the “astral self.” This astral self, in turn, picks up yet another cover upon itself—the physical body. Once it has taken on the physical body, the sensory functions which were supposed to be performed by the astral body, are locked up in the physical body. We then begin to feel that if we want to see something we must use these eyes, to hear we must use these ears and so on. Therefore, this final covering upon the soul—the physical body—ultimately creates in us the feeling that we are the physical body! That this world—this physical plane of consciousness—is our home! And the journey back to our original state of consciousness, the one in which we existed without any of these various covers, is simply the journey from the physical self back to the total self! This then is real self-realization! If we accept this analysis of our spiritual plight by the saints as being accurate, the question of how these various covers are to be removed naturally arises. We would like to know if there is any methodology or technique we can use, in order to move from the physical self back to the total self within. The mystics and practitioners of the art of yoga and meditation say, yes! They say that there is a very simple and natural methodology by which we can increase our awareness from that of this physical self to that of total consciousness.

Chapter Four
MYSTIC METHODOLOGY:
The Technology Of Transformation
(Part II)

One can conceive of a methodology or technology for achieving something outside, for reaching somewhere outside one’s self. But for becoming oneself, we need not go anywhere, we need not reach some place outside, we are not to “achieve” anything. We are to just be what we already are! Therefore, why should there be any necessity for a methodology? Why should we need any technology or method to become what we are? All methodologies and technologies should be for becoming something else, not for becoming what we are!

The consciousness “within” us is the creator of all that we are experiencing around us, it IS what we are! Everything that we perceive in this world around us is being “experienced” by this “consciousness” within. The entire creation has come into being from “within,” not outside. Therefore, if one desires to know one’s self, one must know the consciousness which resides within the physical body. Therefore, the problem becomes how to go “within” this physical body?

This body, in which we find ourselves, is the most beautiful product that the Lord has ever made. There are no heavens and paradises, no higher regions or any other forms as marvelous as this human body, through which we are experiencing the creation. In this human body, the LORD HIMSELF resides! The “CREATOR” himself is sitting inside! “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.” This human body itself, is the “temple of God”! All other temples, in which you are spending so much time and energy, in which you go on searching for Self and God-realization, are but monuments and a tribute to this living temple—the human body! We have to enter this temple of God, the only real church, the only mosque, the only true place of worship … through the “gate” which opens into the temple. This body, or temple, has many gates but there is only one that opens “within.” Only one which leads to the “inside” of this body, all others are exits. There are nine “exits” in this body from which our consciousness flows out into the world and generates the human experience. They are: the two eyes, the two ears, the two nostrils of the nose, the mouth, the reproductive organ and the rectum. These are the nine portals or nine “doors” through which our consciousness—via attention—goes out of this human body. Please note that, “attention” does not come into the body via these doors, it can only go out! Nobody can put “vision” into his eyes; it can only flow OUT of his eyes! Similarly, all of the nine doors to this beautiful temple of the human body are capable of only the outward flow—the “exit” of human consciousness.

We have been roaming outside our abode too long. From the very first time we went out of this body through the flow of attention, we have remained outside! You have only to watch the behavior of your own thoughts. When this is done, you will then see how you have become entangled and trapped outside. Through the senses, you have spread your consciousness very thinly throughout experience. You have made many attachments. We have gone outside ourselves and have made all kinds of strong attachments that we are now unable to break and cannot therefore, come back “within” ourselves. We are spending all of our time outside! These nine doors that open outward into the world are being constantly used by us just to make contact with the objects of our attachments! Therefore, being attached, we remain outside our “ownself”. When our consciousness remains outside, we become identified with the objects of our attachments and forget who we are and we lose contact with our “self”. The result is loneliness. Fulfillment of this “inner loneliness” is sought from the company of people outside, but this outside company fails to satisfy this “inner” need of the human being, and therefore, we continue to be lonely. Even when we are surrounded by hundreds of people, we still remain lonely. Something in us is not being satisfied. There is something absent, something “missing” in our life. The self is not there.

The world is full of lonely people. Because of their loneliness, they go on doing many foolish and stupid things in an attempt to fill this void … this emptiness inside. Sometimes, a person starts eating too much, just to feel full! Someone else turns to drugs or alcohol to escape his loneliness. This loneliness hurts. It’s like a wound and is so painful that one wants to soothe it at any cost. The world is a very lonely place, hence people turn to drugs, sex or any and every kind of entertainment conceivable that will keep them anesthetized! However, this pain of loneliness persists despite our best effort to escape its clutches. We try to appease it in many different ways; with cars, with big houses, with money, with all kinds of gadgets and toys. But still the pain of loneliness will persist! You can have the biggest house in the world and still you will remain as lonely in it as you were in your basement apartment! These things are not going to make a bit of difference—ownership of this world itself cannot satisfy your inner loneliness! To satisfy loneliness, you will have to go within! You will have to go through the “tenth” door, which opens into our head … into the “upper room” of this temple where consciousness resides. How do we enter into this human body through the tenth door, in the head, above the nine doors below? There are many ways of doing this. Two of which I will now briefly describe.

One of the ways of doing this is to take the energy flowing outside, reverse its direction and bring our consciousness back through this energy to the tenth door. Since we cannot use these nine doors to come into the body, we can, however, use the “energy centers” sustaining this physical body to gain entrance into the tenth door; the door behind the eyes … the “eye center.” The physical body has two parts. The first is below the eyes and is called “Pinda.” The second is above the eyes corresponding to the frontal part of the brain. This is called “Brahmanda,” the seat of Brahm the Creator.

There are six energy centers or CHAKRAS which sustain and hold this physical body, Pinda, together. (See Fig. 1.) If these centers were not operating, this physical body

would instantly disintegrate! The lowest energy center, the Muladhar, is at the rectum. The energy flowing at this center holds us to the earth and provides us with the experience of gravity. Through this center, we are able to determine directions. It is also the center of evacuation. All of the waste material left over in the body processes is eliminated at this center. In Hindu mythology LORD GANESH, the “guardian” of the temple, resides at this center. All of these powers are then referred to as the power of LORD GANESH. Once we are able, through the concentration of our attention, to enter into this center, we are then able to rise up to the second energy center of the Genitals, the Svadasthan Chakra … the center of pleasure. This is also the center of reproduction where all human life is created. Hence, it is often referred to as the “Chakra of Brahma”, the Lord of Creation. It is the center where the physical body is prepared and created. Therefore, all “beginning”, in terms of the physical life, occurs here. The beginning of all physical experience with the body starts and is created at this center. Huge whirlpools of “creative energy” flow near this center. The “Kundalini”, a vast coiled “serpent” of energy, lies just behind this chakra. The entire energy of the Kundalini can be released by entering this chakra through the concentration of attention. Rising still further from this center, by the concentration of attention, we are able to gain access to the next center, the Nabhi Chakra, the navel center. This is the chakra or center at the digestive and intestinal organs in the middle of the stomach. This is the center of sustenance, of nourishment and maintenance. LORD VISHNU, the God of sustenance, the “sustainer” resides over this center. In the trinity of beginning, middle and end, he represents the middle.

That energy, the power at the navel center, provides us with the ability to rise higher, through meditation, to the next higher chakra in the pinda body—the “Heart” center of Hirday Chakra. It is the primary center and the one that generates permanent experiences. Out of all the chakras thus far described, it is only this chakra that provides us with a permanent experience. It is the abode of Lord Shiva, the Lord of Death! In the trinity of the beginning, the middle and the end, he represents the end. Hence, he is often referred to as the “destroyer.” Since all things which have a beginning must also have a middle and an end, Lord Shiva—the power at the Heart center, is considered to be the all-inclusive deity, containing Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu within himself. Therefore, the experience of death, which arises from the heart center, is considered to provide the only permanent experience of which we can be certain. The one thing of which we all can be sure of … is death! You cannot be sure of anything else in this life except this. Yet, we can still rise higher in this ascent through the energy center via meditation to the next higher chakra, the Kanth Chakra, the center at the throat.

At this center of the throat resides the goddess Shakti, the power to create … the subsidiary power to create. Just as the “creator” of all the experiences we are having in the world is created by the creator sitting within this temple behind the eyes … in the “Brahmanda region”, similarly Shakti is sitting at the throat center and can also create. All dreams are created from here; all fantasies and imaginations are created here. All ideas and inspirations that we project into experience flows from here. We are able to, by concentration of our attention—by meditation—to enter into this center and have an experience of this higher power which exists in human awareness. Or, we can rise still further in this “ascent” of consciousness, to the center behind the eyes—the Ajna Chakra. It is the center where our own self and the mind reside. It is the “tenth” door … the door that opens into this temple of the human body! Entering through this door, we will at last have come home to ourself, and for the first time, we will be fulfilled. All loneliness will at last disappear. The other approach would be to destroy the chakras to release their energy while alive. The suggestion is to “die while living”.

Chapter Five
MYSTIC METHODOLOGY:
The Technology Of Transformation
(Part III)

Before making a further analysis of this other methodology given by the mystics, let us briefly familiarize ourselves with some of the problems inherent in the process of going within the body via the use of “attention.” Immediately, we are confronted with the problem of how to “lose” awareness of this physical body, which is necessary in order to have the experience of what we are without it. Do we have to die? Does this physical body have to be destroyed in order for us to reach our inner self? If we must kill ourselves to get the knowledge of the self, we cannot be sure that we will, in fact, attain such knowledge! Therefore, we will need a methodology which will enable us to have the same experience of destroying this physical body and yet—not actually killing it! Hence, the suggestion that we learn how to “die while living”! We have been told by mystics that if we died while living, we would automatically destroy all the chakras, and our attention will come immediately within to the point behind our eyes … inside! When you withdraw your attention from the physical body and concentrate it behind the eyes, the process is the same as dying! You will become completely unaware of this physical body! Therefore, the mystics say don’t destroy this physical body, simply “lose” awareness of it by concentrating your attention at the point behind the eyes. When the objective is to gain awareness of our inner selves, necessarily, the methodology adopted must consist of becoming increasingly unaware of the outside world coming into existence via the use of this physical body. If we are able to become completely unaware of this physical body, and hence the world outside, and still remain aware of the inner self, then we can—in effect—experience “dying while alive”; to experience “life after death”! Therefore, let us see what it is which causes us to be aware of this physical body in the first place. We discover upon examination that what makes us aware of this physical body seems to be the very fact that we can “feel” the body itself! Indeed, all our actions which establish a relationship with the world around us, which even makes us aware of this world, must take place through the agency of the physical body. Therefore, we are “constantly” aware of this physical body, and as a result, come to identify ourselves with it. If we did not consciously “attend” to all the various things happening through the body, we would not be aware of it at all! If we did not put our attention into the sensory apparatuses located in this body, not only would we lose awareness of this world, but we would also “lose” the awareness of the physical body as well! We would become, literally speaking—dead!

It is, in fact, the blocking of the sensory systems located in the physical body—the actual withdrawal of our attention from the events happening through this body—that constitutes an effective method of meditation. But, those of us who practice meditation know that the total withdrawal of attention is not so easy in practice, as it is in theory! It is very difficult to achieve. Even if you are able to successfully withdraw your attention from the world by closing your eyes and ears, still you will remain conscious of the physical body itself! It is not as easy to sit still for two or three hours as it seems! There are all kinds of aches and pains. Sitting in meditation, you will eventually reach a point where it feels as if your legs are going to explode and that your bones are on fire. So please understand that it is not so easy to sit still for the long periods of time necessary for effective withdrawal of attention.

How, then, do we withdraw our attention from the physical body itself, after we close our eyes and ears? The mystics answer to this problem is that you develop the capacity of staying at that place, in the physical body, where the conscious self resides. This place where the conscious self resides in the body, the point from where all consciousness in the form of attention flows, is in the head behind and between the two physical eyes! This point has often been called the “third eye” by many mystics, to distinguish it from the other two eyes. It is also sometimes called the “eye-focus” or “eye center.” It is from this point in the physical body that our attention travels outside—via the sensory system—and we become aware of the physical world and this physical body. Therefore, if we can successfully withdraw our scattered attention back to this point, we will in effect, “lose” awareness of the world as well as the physical body itself! We will become aware of the “inner” self and the “inner” world. We are moving up to this focal point of consciousness every night when we sleep! It happens every night, and we become unaware of the body and this world. The only problem is that we fail to hold our attention here and allow it to drop down to the throat center where it then gets engulfed in a dream. Higher consciousness cannot be attained if the attention drops below the focal point at the eye-center. To hold to the focal point of consciousness behind the eyes and not go to sleep is the key to attaining higher consciousness.

The key to higher consciousness is the ability to concentrate your attention upon your own-self at this point, the eye-center—behind the two physical eyes! To then remain awake and not go to sleep. If we slip into a sleep trance, we simply go into one of the lower chakras and will not experience a higher awareness or a higher consciousness. If we can maintain our wakefulness and still concentrate our attention upon ourself, we will achieve a new experience—higher awareness! Once we are able to become unaware of the physical body, without taking any anesthesia, without being knocked on the head, but by our own “Sadhana” (our own meditation), we discover that we possess immense energy and power of which we were unaware! This ability to concentrate the attention on the self “within”—behind the eyes at the “eye-center”—is not unique. It does not belong to only a few gifted people, but is available to each and every one of us! Of course, there are many distractions to doing it.

The most immediate problem to confront us is that there is a process going on inside our heads called “thinking” that never seems to stop! Even when we close our eyes and ears, this thinking process—this thinking about the affairs of the world, our family and problems—continues to go on. In fact, scientists now believe that the thinking process never ceases! From birth to death, day or night, asleep or awake, conscious or unconscious … this thinking process never stops! This then, without a doubt, is the single most difficult problem in the initial stage. What is “thinking”? Thinking is essentially a stream of thoughts made up of words that defines, describes and relates to some external experience of the physical self. Hence, whenever we think, we are in fact moving away from the eye-center into phenomena! Therefore, thinking becomes “self-defeating.” But, alas, thinking cannot be stopped! Now, how does the technology or methodology given by the mystics solve what seems to be an impossible dilemma? The mystics have devised a technique, a method called “bland word repetition” to overcome this obstacle. By the repetition of a set of words collectively referred to as a “mantra,” they show their initiates how to pump these words into the thinking machine which, in turn, pumps out the thoughts of the things and affairs of the world! Since the connotation of the words contained in the thoughts running through the mind always refer to some external experience of the physical self, the mystic shows us how—by substituting into the thinking process—words which have NO outside connotation or reference, thus the outward flow of attention is stopped!

Therefore, this repetition of a set of bland words, called a mantra, is the method the mystics have recommended for overcoming the obstacle arising from this continuous process of thinking. The next obstacle to come into our way in the journey back to the eye-center is the problem of “visualization.” You can go on repeating the mantra as fast and as loud as you like, but how can you stop the mind from seeing something? These mystics tell us that this problem also can be solved by adopting a very similar method they call “contemplation.” Just as we are able, by substitution, to choke out the externalizing effects of the thinking process, we can in turn, overcome the obstacles to concentration of attention back at the eye-center, that arises from the distractions of external visualization, by selecting a form or symbol that “pushes” our attention in, not out! The mystics say that the best object to select for our contemplation is something, in our external experience, which itself is continuously and singularly involved in the process of self-realization—that object is called the “Guru” or “Master.” Even in this external experience, if you go to this object he will throw you back to yourself! His teachings will be to go back to the eye-center! So even if, in the course of meditation, your attention travels away from the eye-center to the visualization of this external form, you will again be pushed back inwardly!

To block out this second category of obstructions to the withdrawal of attention—the visualizations of the mind—we put before our mind’s eye the form of the Guru. This aspect of the mystic methodology is also sometimes called, “DHYAN.” But even if you are able to block out the thoughts of the thinking process in the mind, by the repetition of a mantra, and are able to also block out its visual distractions, by contemplating on the form of the Guru, what about the sounds that we are hearing all the time? Scientists have now discovered that there is some sound going on in the external universe all the time! Therefore, we can never experience a moment of external silence! At any moment, anywhere and anyplace we go, even if you sit in a cave with your ears plugged—you will STILL hear some kind of external sound! If nothing else, you will hear your own breathing or your heart beating! How then do we overcome this final obstruction to concentration which arises from the distractions of these external sounds? The principle of the method is again the same. That is, we simply listen to a sound which is “within,” not outside! Just as there are sounds of other things, there is also a “sound” of the self! This sound is audible and can be heard when our attention is properly focused. There are five forms of this sound in every human being. The mystics have referred to it by many various names in their writings. It is the “WORD” of the Bible, the “kalma” of the Holy Koran, the “NAD” of the Vedas, and the “Shabd” or “Sound Current” in the terminology of contemporary mysticism. So, by focusing our attention on this sound, we are able to overcome the last obstacle to withdrawal of our attention back to the focal point of consciousness behind the eyes. What happens when we are able to do all these things?

Chapter Six
DYING WHILE LIVING:
The Journey Within

When you withdraw your attention, through meditation, to the third eye center, behind the two physical eyes—you will gradually become unaware of the extremities of the body! If you are able to sit for a sufficiently long period of time, in the right posture for meditation, and concentrate your attention at the point behind the eyes, after a while you will lose awareness of your feet! You won’t feel them! Sometimes in the beginning of this practice, you have to open your eyes to look and see that they have not disappeared! You become completely unaware of them! A while later, the hands are gone! And if you are persistent and have the patience, you will then notice that your legs, arms and so on also disappear from your field of awareness! You will be no longer aware of them. When you lose awareness of them, then you will experience a very strange thing. The body awareness completely disappears, and you feel that you are just awareness alone without any vehicle! When the attention is withdrawn from the bottom of the body, you have the strange sensation of floating in the air! You realize that it was only because you could “feel”, through attention, the ground on which you sit, that you have the experience of “gravity” … of being on the ground! The moment attention is withdrawn from the bottom of the torso, you discover that “YOU” are not sitting on the ground at all! You will have the feeling of being in mid-air; you will experience … “levitation.” You feel that somehow or other, you have “risen,” but you are still in the body which is still sitting there in the same place!

If you were to continue withdrawing your attention further upwards, it eventually reaches the throat center and you will then become completely unconscious and unaware of the body, and the light coming from the third eye center floods you! Eventually, when you are able to fully complete the process of withdrawal of attention to the third eye center, you are able to see the gate … the tenth door! The door that leads into the temple of the Lord! Many yogis have preferred to travel along these chakras, because they have spent too many years and too much effort involved with the principles of energy. Therefore, they would rather awaken the energy centers one after the other. As a result, they are able to develop yogic and supernatural powers. But the highest mystics, those who are interested in journeys that go far beyond the entrance to the temple, have recommended that we need not waste our time in going through each of the chakras. They say that we should practice the art of withdrawing the attention directly to the eye center. When the attention is withdrawn to the third eye center, it opens up into a region which is full of light and sound. The light and Sound within us is so beautiful, it is impossible to describe it in words! The Sound is like that of a big bell. Its peels are so loud and the music is so beautiful and feels so good that anyone who has had this experience can never forget it! It is not just a sound; it is a power that pulls you. It is like a conscious being! It is like a friend. It “IS” the source of consciousness; it is the Sound which makes you conscious! And this entire episode takes place when you are able to withdraw your attention back to the eye center. It is the same thing which would happen if you died. Therefore, it is referred to by the mystics as the art of “dying while living.”

When you die, the same thing happens but then you are not able to come back and share this knowledge with anybody. But, if you could die, while still living in this body, then you would be able to describe the journey within. Therefore, we have to simulate this dying while still being alive through the use of the mystic methodology. What happens when you die? When a person is dying, you will notice that they become unconscious of the parts of the body. They start first with the extremities. When a person is dying, the person’s first experience is that of losing consciousness of the feet, hands and so on. They are able to still talk, but do not know what has happened to their feet and hands. Then gradually, the person becomes unconscious of the whole body and no longer knows “where” he or she is! But they are still able to talk! The “head” is still there and is the last part of the physical body to drop out of awareness. When this goes, the person is said to have died! There is no life left. In the same way, if we can simulate death, that is, withdraw our attention from the body in the same manner—from the extremities up to the head—we can have the same experience of “going within” … the experience of life after death! All this is accomplished by the use of attention.

Human attention is the most wonderful gift that has been given to us. Whatever we place our attention on, that becomes real for us! In fact, the only things we are ever able to experience, are those things on which we put our attention! If you put all of your attention on this book, the rest of the room in which you are now sitting will simply disappear. When the attention is again unfocused, that is “scattered”, you will again become aware of rest of the room around you. Great marksmen, who are able to hit bullseye all the time, have practiced the art of “focusing” attention to such an extent that they do not “see” anything else except the target they want to hit. If they allowed themselves to become aware of anything else, they would not hit the target. So they are trained to practice the art of concentration of attention in such a way that they do not see anything else! And whenever you concentrate your attention on something, you will automatically lose awareness of the other things going on around you. It is the use of attention in this manner which enables us to do this wonderful thing called “dying while living”. We are conscious of our hands and feet and this entire world simply because of the use of attention. Our attention is scattered throughout the body and from there—via the organs of perceptions—the whole world comes into being.

If we can imagine this head of ours as a room, and we are sitting in the center of it, and if we then put all of our attention here, we will become completely unaware of our hands and feet and gradually the rest of the physical body. The experience will be identical to the process of death! And when the attention is withdrawn up to the waist, you will have the sensation of flying! You will not know where “you” are, even whether you have a body or not! When the attention reaches the center behind the eyes, you will discover that “you” are separate from the body. You will “see” your own body separate from you! It is a tremendous experience! You will be able to see your physical body from the outside just like everybody else sees it! You can see your own physical body just sitting there!

With your astral body, you are able to walk through walls, you can fly, you can have the same feelings of touching, tasting, smelling, seeing and so on while the physical body is still just sitting there! Then one wonders, “Why have I been calling it ‘me’?” “Who am I?” “I thought that was me!” It is a strange and very frightening experience to see your body separate from you! The first sense that you will use will be that of sight. You will be able to “see” independently of the physical eyes which are closed! Then you will discover that you are able to walk away and “leave” the body sitting there! It is as if you are stepping into a different world! This ability to use the sense perceptions without using the physical body is called “astral travel.” When this complete complex of sense perceptions moves away from the physical body and yet continues to function, you discover that you are able to touch, taste, smell and so on with much greater clarity and scope! In this astral state, you move just as if you were walking with feet. But when you look, you will see that you really don’t have any feet! And when you start to run you discover that you can run very, very fast; that you can move at a velocity greater than the velocity of light itself! What’s more, you can run right through walls and everything! It is a very strange but wonderful experience! If you want to see what is happening in the other room, you can just look “intently” and you can see what is going on. In the astral body, you will discover you have faculties that you never dreamed existed! Anybody can do this! You can do it also, by the simple method of using your attention to focus away from the physical experience and onto the point from where the attention flows! But there is one big problem. The problem is that when the attention rises above the throat, the experience is of dying … real dying! One becomes afraid and out of this fear pumps his attention back into the whole body.

All of us are really afraid of dying. But we really do not realize how much, until death actually comes. Therefore, when we are able to simulate the experience of death by withdrawing the attention to the eye center, we naturally become very frightened and panic! This may be the “real” thing! This fear comes because we really are dying! The soul really does separate from the body, although actually, the physical body is not dead! We are merely shifting our focus of attention to a point where we can segregate it from the body. There are vital centers within the body that continue to support its life functions while the astral body takes over as the vehicle of our conscious experience. At the eye center, we are able to segregate the astral body from the physical body, while its life remains sustained by these energy centers. Life remains in the physical body in the same way as it is maintained when we are in deep sleep or a trance. But because of the fear that accompanies the experience of coming to the eye center, it is advised that you attempt this exercise only under the guidance of a trained teacher. One who is a master in this art and has himself made this journey many, many times. Then it becomes very safe and once you have practiced it, you are able to leave the body and travel at will for as long as you like! You will discover that there are many different and new experiences available while in this astral state of being.

One of the experiences available is the ability to read other people’s mind and thoughts! As a result, your ability to communicate is greatly increased because you “know” what the other person is thinking about! You are then able to respond “precisely” to his need, which often startles and amazes him! You will be able to see their doubts, their true emotions and so on! It is all very, very amusing! In this astral state, you also discover that everything you are seeing around you is being seen without there being any light! Here, in the physical state, you cannot see anything or anybody unless there is light! If the light is turned off in the room in which you are sitting, everything will become “invisible” to you because you need external light in order to see. But in the astral state of being, you can switch off the light and you STILL will be able to see everything! Everybody and everything viewed from this state of being, seems to have a light of its own! They can be seen without the need of any external light being present! That is why in this state, things and people are very often said to be very “luminous” and “radiant”. There is an internal illumination in everything and everyone! It is an extraordinary experience and for those who have it for the first time, they think that it is the final and ultimate experience! “We have found heaven,” they say. “We have found paradise … we have found everything!” It is at this point that the teacher, that the master appears in his own “radiant” form and says, “I have brought you here to start the spiritual journey, not to end it.”

Chapter Seven
THE ROLE OF THE LIVING MASTER:
The Key To Higher Consciousness
(Part I)

We now come to a point in our analysis of the journey towards self-realization about which there is not much understanding; the role of the master in the quest for self-realization. The word “master” has been used in many different senses. Indeed, there is a great deal of controversy on whether or not a master is even needed for such a journey. It is only when one reaches the eye center does the need for a master really become necessary. Up to this point, withdrawal of attention is easy. Anybody can do it! It is not something very difficult. But, upon reaching this point, your progress will simply stop. The experience of reaching the eye center is so beautiful that you will no longer have any “urge” to rise to the higher states of consciousness! You will feel that this is the end! And it is here that the master becomes very necessary in order to convince you that, “no, this is just the beginning.” He “pushes” you forward. He takes you on a flight throughout the entire universe! You will then discover that there are many more worlds existing which are far more beautiful than this world known to us. You are amazed to find that there are a great deal MORE people who have attained a higher level of awareness than you had ever imagined! We think only a few rare souls have attained this higher state of awareness. It is a remarkable discovery! In fact, this world in which we live is simply a replica of these higher worlds. You will discover that the events happening on this physical plane of consciousness are nothing more than a replay! You find out that the “film” of this physical life is made there, and is then projected through time, space and causation, onto this physical experience! Although the film of life is made at the causal region, it is first projected onto the space-time continuum at the astral plane and copied on to the physical plane from there. The space-time continuum outside is simply a screen on which consciousness is projecting a film already made at the astral level of consciousness! On this plane, we are able to actually see these films being loaded into the consciousness at this physical level.

You can see how, in the future, we will be able to plug ourselves into each other and transfer our thoughts and feelings in a few seconds! Since the mode of communication at the astral level is that of telepathy, it will eventually be reflected at the physical plane of consciousness over here! We will then call it a scientific discovery! At this level of consciousness, you will be able to see everything that is going to happen on this physical plane for the next 2,000 years! You will see all of these events there! It is a fantastic experience! And it is the spiritual master who makes it possible for you to see all of this! He is able to give you instructions on how, by the use of one’s own personal consciousness, this region of awareness can be attained. In fact, he will accompany you throughout your whole journey inside consciousness. You will also begin to notice how the lords of these regions respect him; how they show a certain type of reverence and honor to him which they do not show to anyone else. And you begin to wonder, what is so special about him? He is just a co-traveler with me. He is simply a guide who has brought me to this level. Why is he being showed so much respect? But the people at this higher level of awareness “know” who he is. They know that he belongs to a “higher” region. The master is now “teaching” you in a different way than he did on this physical plane.

At the physical level, the master teaches you how to “go within” and how to trigger the experience of reaching the astral state of being. Once you have been able to achieve this, he must then take you out of this state because you will like it so much that you will not want to leave it! He has to somehow or other persuade you that there is still something better than this. He has a very hard time in doing this because still, in spite of everything he says, you do not want to go on. The astral region is so beautiful and satisfying that you do not ever want to leave it! It is everything you have hoped for and you do not want anything more! But the master goes on insisting that this is not the end and you must go on. He then takes you to still higher realms of consciousness by showing you how to withdraw your attention through the process of listening to the “Sound Current,” the sound of the self that I mentioned in the previous chapter. This process then enables you to withdraw your attention from the astral body itself and takes you into the region of pure mind! There, the senses are no longer necessary! In this state of consciousness, it is no longer necessary to have the “power to see” in order to see! No longer necessary to have the “power to hear” in order to hear and so on. At this level of consciousness, you acquire the capacity to have “direct perception!” The ability to have experiences directly with the mind! We are able to enter the region of “universal mind,” the “causal region,” where all things and events have their origin! This causal region is simply the region of “pure” mind, where not only the physical body is no longer needed, but the astral body also is no longer required!

There are hardly any words that can describe the experience of this state of being! It is really impossible to give a description of it! Yet, something must be said. But first, let me clarify one very important point. These regions are not one above the other. You don’t have to go from here to there! All these different regions are in the same place! They are “within” your own consciousness! Even this physical world, which we see around us, is within CONSCIOUSNESS from where we project it outside! Even the dream world which we experience when we slip below this wakeful level of consciousness is also contained within this same consciousness! Therefore, we do not actually go anywhere to have these experiences of higher regions. They automatically come into being when we shift our focus of attention! This must be clearly understood throughout this description of the journey to higher regions.

When we enter into the causal region, we are able to have the experience of “total time!” In the astral region, we were surprised to discover that time could be suspended! In this physical region, time cannot be held. You are having some nice experience and you want to “hold” on to it; this cannot be done at this physical level. But, it can be done at the astral level. However, at the causal level, you cannot only suspend time, but you are also able to travel backward and forward as well! If you want, you can move backwards into the past to re-experience your happiest moments. Not through memory, but the “actual” re-experience of the event! If there is some experience happening to you that you do not particularly care for, you can “leap” over it and continue traveling until you reach an experience of your liking, and start your life at that point! It is an incredible experience! At the causal level of consciousness, time becomes mobile. You can move through time in any direction that you like. You have the ability to go through past, present and future experiences at will! Along with the nature of time, the whole concept of reality changes! We discover that what we thought was the beginning of an event, is not, because this experience can be had at “any time” throughout the flow of time! When you can travel in any direction in the time continuum, where is the beginning? You can make any part of time the beginning, the middle or the end! This new and unique ability completely overwhelms and fills us with elation. Then, we become anxious to know more about the nature of this new reality we are experiencing.

At the causal level, we also discover that the reason we were able to communicate through telepathy at the astral level was because there is only ONE mind! We discover that ALL thoughts of ALL people were there inside one single “universal” mind! Entering into the causal state of being, we acquire access to ALL thoughts being had by all minds … throughout the whole spectrum of time! I cannot really describe the impact of the realization that what you thought was “your” mind and “his” mind, was simply fragments of a single mind! As a result of this experience, all misunderstandings, all problems in human relationships immediately disappear!

At the causal level of consciousness, another very interesting thing also takes place. We discover that all past actions, all future actions and all current actions as well, are being manufactured there! We are able to see how the “Law of Karma” operates. At this physical level of consciousness, we do not know if a certain event which occurs, happens because of something we have done a few moments before or because of something we did ten lives ago! In fact, we are not even sure there was such a thing as a “past” lifetime! At this physical level, we have absolutely no knowledge about matters such as these. But when we are able to go into this causal region of consciousness, we are capable of seeing our entire lifetime as well as that of any other person we want! The experience which we get upon entering the causal region is so immense, so expansive and total that after having such an experience, no one can believe that there could be any experience higher than this! Even the most knowledgeable person, someone who has made a very deep study of the levels of human consciousness before making the journey, upon reaching this level, finds it impossible to conceive of anything higher than it! The experience is too grand and too immense for anyone to intellectually comprehend it, or for that matter, to even imagine such an experience is humanly possible! And when it happens to you, you are now really convinced that, “This is it!” And again, the Master, whom you now see in his causal form, must somehow take you still higher.

“You are still in the realm of the mind,” he tells you. “This is not the end of the journey … we have still a very long way to go! Consciousness transcends mind and you must go beyond this region.” But the experience of this region is so tremendous that we refuse to believe even the Master! The Master has a very, very difficult time in persuading us to go beyond the causal level. Therefore, a very long period of time is spent in this region. Incidentally, when I say a lot of time, I am not referring to a few years. I am referring to much longer spans of time! Hundreds of thousands of years are sometimes spent in this region! We cannot believe there is anything beyond this region, and the enjoyment of it is so fulfilling that we flatly refuse to make any attempt to continue our journey. It is only through spiritual force that the Master is able to take us up to the next region of consciousness where even the universal mind gets left behind—the “pure spiritual region.”

Chapter Eight
THE ROLE OF THE LIVING MASTER:
The Key To Higher Consciousness
(Part II)

Once we reach the pure spiritual region, we discover that it was the mind itself which was creating time! All events, whether they were total or not, were being sustained in a time frame created by the mind. Even if you could move in either direction on this continuum, it was still “within” time! At the causal level, we are not able to cross time itself. This capacity comes only after we are able to rise into the pure spiritual state of being! It is really impossible to give any description of this region. Those souls who are able to experience this level of consciousness have not been able to describe it with words. At best, they are only able to describe it in a negative sense—“NETI, NETI,” not this … not that! Therefore, strictly speaking, I should end here because nothing more can be said! One of India’s greatest mystics, Kabir Sahib, has written a very beautiful book which is an account of a conversation with his principle disciple, Dararmdas. The book is called “Anuragh Sagar” the Ocean of Love! In it, Daramdas asks Kabir to say something about the higher regions beyond the mind.

You have been lecturing to me a long time about the higher level of consciousness; about a higher way of seeing things. Why don’t you tell me what this is really about? What is this higher consciousness?” … Kabir replies, “Daramdas, how can I say anything about it to you? I can’t describe it with the words of this world. How can I explain to you that there is a state of consciousness where there is no time? How would you comprehend it? How can you comprehend a state of being where there is no time and no space? But these are only words! They are not the experience! We can go on and on repeating that the experience is one of timelessness and spacelessness but it will not be a description of this region!

And then Kabir goes on to tell Daramdas, in a storybook fashion, the whole tale of creation relating it to the worldly life here. It is one of the greatest books ever written.

When the causal region is traversed, and you are able to enter into a higher level of conscious experience, then alone are you able to realize that TIME is not an indispensable coordinate of experience; that one can have experience WITHOUT time! We are able to have the experience of “timeless” time! This timeless time is where all time is total! All time is existing in ONE SINGLE MOMENT and you need not move backwards or forward! The entire scope of all experiences available within time is “capsuled” into a single, timeless moment! This experience is impossible to describe! I don’t know why I am even trying to say anything about it! I am just trying to give some idea, however inadequate, about the incredible nature of the pure spiritual experience. It is an experience where time need not be extended in order to have personal experience. All experiences are condensed at this level of consciousness. At this level, one has an intense longing to be “ONE” with everyone … to “LOVE” everyone! Everything is known instantly … “INTUITIVELY”! No time is required! This timeless, spaceless experience occurs when we are able to enter into this spiritual region existing one step above the causal region. At this level, we transcend everything relevant to all known reality. Our experience becomes permanent! It never suffers death; it never changes; it remains exactly the same as it always was, has been and always will be! At this level, we discover that our nature is the same as that of God himself! That MAN IS GOD! He is made of the same stuff of which God is but had been completely ignorant of this fact. Man is a seed—the seed of God. And when a man reaches the pure spiritual level of consciousness, he blossoms … the “God” in him becomes manifest. The fragrance of divineness is released because “Godliness” has bloomed in you, and you become so fulfilled, so utterly fulfilled and joyous that you have no desire or need to go anywhere else! We then thank our spiritual master for bringing us to this “highest” level of consciousness. But he says, “No, this is still not the end of our journey! You have only discovered your own self; you have yet to discover GOD HIMSELF!”

When we transcend the pure spiritual region we are able to cross the last barrier … the barrier of “Individuation”! Even this feeling that there can be more than one soul, that you are simply one of many billions of other souls, is an illusion! We discover that at the level of “total consciousness,” we are able to transcend the experience of individuation … the experience of “ego”! At this level of consciousness, no time, not even timeless time, exists! This state of totality of consciousness contains all experiences from the lowest dream up to the very highest and is being experienced by ONE SINGLE CONSCIOUSNESS … your own! It is difficult to explain how the “whole” of experience is fused together into one total experience. It is unconfined, unlimited and has no time or space! I am not sure you can even understand unlimited consciousness without time and without space! But this is the experience one gets when one reaches the level of total consciousness. At this level of consciousness, you discover that you have unlimited possibilities, that you are “ONE” with the creator … one with God himself! Hence, upon attaining this level of consciousness, every person—with no exceptions—has proclaimed the same thing … “AHAM BRAHMASI” … “I am God”! It simply means they have “realized” that their seed is no more a seed, it has disappeared into the soil of existence, and they have come to the ultimate blossoming … to the “peak” of creation.

At the level of total consciousness, we are able to have “total experience”! Total experience means ALL experiences, not just the “highest” experience. This must be clearly understood! The highest experience is LOWER than the experience of totality, and when anyone attains this level of total consciousness, he CONTINUES to be aware of all of the levels of consciousness below, whether he is here or there! At this level, your experience becomes one of “symphonic consciousness”! People very often wonder whether those who have reached this level of consciousness have to “come down” and “go up” in order to know what is happening at these various planes of reality. They don’t! They are totally aware of EVERYTHING at every level of human awareness! This then, is a brief description of what lies within every human being’s own consciousness! I have tried to describe the variety of experience available in human consciousness as best I could. The language, any language, is completely inadequate! It is something which cannot be described in words. But I had to try to say something about these things because very few people have ever been told of their human possibilities. The secret of your own consciousness has been kept hidden from you!

As a result, a deep feeling of worthlessness surrounds your existence. Society has conditioned you to feel very negative towards yourself! You have been conditioned to believe that your worth is not intrinsic. You are asked to “prove” yourself, to achieve success, to make a lot of money! You are asked to “earn” respectability and prestige! You must prove you are worth something! And this idea of success goes on torturing you throughout your whole life. Hence, the deep feeling that, “I am worthless as a human being unless I prove otherwise,” destroys all of the beauty of the human experience. But, when you are able to realize that you are one with God, one with the Creator himself—this becomes proof enough of your worth! No other proof is needed! You discover the infinite immensity of your own consciousness. For the first time, you are able to really love yourself which is the only way you can ever love “God.” Therefore, the greatest good fortune that can befall a human being in this world is to be initiated by a perfect master, who will then give him the “keys to the kingdom of God” … the key to higher consciousness.

Chapter Nine
THE MEANING OF INITIATION

The word “initiation” is used all over the world to indicate the entry or introduction of someone into a new discipline or subject. However, the “spiritual initiation” of the perfect masters that will be examined in this chapter, introduces us into “higher awareness” and takes us into higher levels of consciousness! It is not simply an introduction into a new discipline or subject—it means much more than this. From the very beginning, I would like to make it absolutely clear that a very large number of initiations going on, especially in this country, are not the kind of initiation that I consider authentic and real. Today, you can “purchase” initiation into many cults and various kinds of yogic practices by simply paying a fee! This is not the “spiritual” initiation of which I am speaking, when I refer to initiation by a perfect living master. A long time ago, getting initiation was not so easy. It could not be purchased for a few dollars! It was very difficult to get it. A seeker would have to sometimes wait for years to be initiated! Some were made to wait for almost the whole of their lives, because unless they were “ready” they would not be accepted by the masters. This waiting itself became a way of testing the maturity of a soul! The more impatient the mind, the less mature. In other cases, a seeker was not even allowed to ask any questions—none!

Sometimes, you would be made to wait for five or ten days before you could even ask a single question! But today, we can hardly wait even an hour before we attack the masters with our questions! An hour seems to be the longest we can stay with a trend of thought! Whereas, in the old days, you would be made to “hold” the thought; to stay with it until it matured, and then, like ripe fruit, it would fall away of its own accord! No “real” questions can be answered by words. Questions can only be answered by an “experience”; by something existential … but never through the intellect! This simple waiting, unquestioned waiting, the reliance upon the Master to pick the right moment, would prepare the seekers of that time to make tremendous progress when they were finally initiated! But today, the whole thing has become a different matter because no one is willing to wait. We have become such victims of time, that to wait for even a single moment is impossible! As a result of this “time” consciousness, we cannot afford to “waste” our time when we come across a perfect master. He will make us wait! And the mind will ask “What are you doing? Why are you wasting your time with this man? Is what he’s offering you really worth the wait? Will it really lead you to anything?” But this waiting is the price you will have to pay—and one has to pay a price for everything! But we are only willing to pay with money, not with faith and trust! Because of this “hurry-up” attitude, which is characteristic of these modern times, initiation from the perfect masters has become almost impossible! Full of impatience, ignorance and lack of faith, we rush such a master, and ask him, “Will you initiate me?” But, even during this brief asking, we are still on the run! Traditional initiation has become almost impossible, but there is still no alternative to some kind of initiations! Initiation is still needed! To meet this need, there are thousands of phony gurus and Swami “this” or Swami “that” who are willing to sell you a “QUICK-FIX” initiation for a fee! Today in the name of mysticism, something pseudo—something false—is being sold. America is full of gurus who are selling you something which has nothing to do with spirituality. Now, this is not the kind of initiation I am referring to as initiation by a perfect living master. However, even if one does have the patience to wait and trust … to “surrender”—there still remains another problem in being initiated by a perfect master … their initiation is NOT done at the physical level at all!

There is no such thing as initiation at this physical level so far as a perfect master is concerned! The perfect master operates from the higher levels of consciousness and initiates us at a level of consciousness higher than this wakeful state. When a perfect master initiates you, he creates a connection between you and his higher form at the next higher level of consciousness. No perfect master ever initiates his disciples at this physical plane! The “real” initiation takes place at the astral level within from where he operates; from where he connects his “spiritual form” to us. He does not believe in teaching any new system of rituals and ceremonies. He does not propagate any new practices or methods of worship. We have already been confused enough by all these things. We have been praying and worshipping the Lord for thousands of years in thousands of different ways. Therefore, the perfect master simply says, “worship him in whatever manner you like.” There is no harm in praying to the Lord in any manner you so desire, because your relationship with him is direct. In fact, prayers with words and so on are not even necessary! But if you like, you may pray and worship in whatever fashion you think is correct and effective; it hardly makes any difference. To whom are you praying anyway? You and the Lord are ONE? You are simply “talking” to your ownself! Prayer is really one of the most misunderstood notions found in religion. It is as if you are praying before a mirror, seeing your own face, kneeling down before your own image, begging for favors! There is nothing in the mirror except your own reflection! Similarly, there is no distinction between that which we call God and our ownself, therefore, all prayers—however beautiful they may be—are regressive. Your own consciousness is the “creator” of this entire experience of the world which you are having!

When the perfect master initiates you, he will take you to a level much higher than prayers, rituals and worship! He enables you to “personally” reach to a level of consciousness much higher than this wakeful physical level, at which our search for God-realization is confined to rituals and ceremonies! Therefore, his initiation will have nothing to do with religion. Initiation by a perfect master does not require you to change or drop your religion; to change your form of worship or concept of God. Nor does it require you to make any changes in your cultural background or nationality.

It requires only a change in your attitude! A change from the attitude that “I know everything” to that of “I don’t know anything.” Your so-called “knowledge” is an illusion of the mind that you must snap out of! It is fictitious; just a creation of words; a fantasy, made of the same “stuff” that dreams are made of! You will then come to realize that, “I don’t understand anything; I ‘cannot’ understand anything. My consciousness is confined to this dream-like physical level of consciousness. I am part and parcel of this physical world which is simply a creation of my own mental projections! I am dreaming all the time, even while fully awake!” This change, from that of deep metaphysical sleep to that of seeking and searching for reality, is the only change required for initiation from a perfect master. But if there are no “outward” changes required for initiation by a perfect master, then what “is” initiation? What happens when you are initiated by a perfect master?

When you are initiated by a perfect master, all your “karma” is destroyed! There is no new karma added, and you are liberated from the clutches or actions and their consequences! To fully appreciate the significance of this event, you must clearly understand what this “Law of Karma” is and its relationship to an individual’s spiritual plight. The very first thing that must be understood is that karma is a state of consciousness, and is a function of the human mind. We call that part of the human mind which is exposed to the impression coming into its field of awareness, the “Antakaran.” The Antakaran is the sensitive part of the mind which picks up the impressions of our conscious experiences. These impressions are called “Samskaras.” These samskaras are simply the previous impressions left by what we have experienced in consciousness. Once these impressions are picked up by the human mind, they are retained and our future course of experience is then guided by them. It is this process, by which the mind picks up these impressions and then releases them back into our experiences to be worked out, that is called the “Law of Karma”!

Therefore, Karma is entirely mental! We create karma with our mind and we also work it out through the mind! A mental decision may or may not be followed by a physical act, but karma is still there! Karma need not be always worked out through our physical actions. In fact, if the mind is unaware of a certain activity, then there is no karma. But if it IS aware of something mentally, but NO physical act follows, karma is still created! Karma then, is merely the “retention” of previous memories, experiences and their impressions within the human mind. It is the working out of these impressions in our present and future decision making process based upon our previous experiences. Therefore, we are bound to act in a certain way because of these previous experiences and impressions. We are “destined” to do certain things, therefore some of these impressions are called “Fate Karma” … “Pralabdha Karma”—karma over which we have no control. When we have cleared up these impressions and start to create new ones, then these new impressions are called, “New Karma,” karma that will form the basis of “Fate Karma” for the future. This new karma is also sometimes called “Kriyaman Karma.” But how, you may ask, can we “jam” up all of the activities, all of the follow-up actions of our karma within the scope of a single life-time? What happens to all this karma, since it is not able to be worked out into this single life-time? The answer is that it is held in “storage” for a future life! The concept of karma is therefore, tied in with the concept of reincarnation.

The concept of reincarnation is that this “over flow” of karma is being held in reserve in the same Antakaran … the same mind! Since the mind cannot work out each impression that comes into it within a single lifetime, it stores those unused impressions in its sensitive part to be worked out in a future lifetime! This third type of karma which is held in reserve for distribution in a future life, is called “reserved karma.” It is also sometime referred to as “Sinchit Karma.” All three kinds of karma briefly described—Pralabdha, Kriyaman and Sinchit—become a heavy load on our consciousness and make it impossible to rise above this physical level of consciousness! Therefore, you can now understand and appreciate the great significance of getting initiation from a perfect master! The master, using the force of his own consciousness, frees us from the mind and our load of karma! Initiation by the perfect master is the only process by which a human being can escape from the law of karma. What goes on thereafter is just “mock” karma created to preserve the pattern of experience in this life. There is no new karma! You are liberated from the realms of karma! Initiation by a perfect master is not just an external ceremony!

If a person who claims to be a guru simply gives you a few words to repeat, saying: “This is the mantra, now I have given you initiation,” you can be sure you have been given nothing! If he has not linked you with his own spiritual force within; not severed your connection with the negative power of time, which sustains your load of karma; if he does not do all this, then he has not been of any help to you! Therefore, initiation by a perfect living master is the greatest event that can happen to you in this world! It is something which angels, rulers of higher realms, souls who are governing this entire creation … those who themselves are creators of regions of consciousness—all are waiting and hoping for this! They are all waiting for a connection with this “spiritual force” which is a direct link to the top … to the “totality” of consciousness! Therefore, when a seeker is ready, he is then picked up and initiated. He is “CHOSEN”, and once you are initiated by a perfect master, he will simply laugh at all the efforts you are still making to reach the higher levels of consciousness! All the yoga and meditation you are doing is just being done out of past habits! The truth is: even if you make millions of efforts, they are not going to take you anywhere! God-realization does not fall within the laws of causation! God-realization is not causal; it is “acausal” … without any cause! This has to be deeply understood! The tendency of the “logical” person or a “rational” man is to either decide that God-realization is causal (and that by his effort he can achieve it), or that it is acausal, (it happens only when it happens … of its own accord, and there is no need to make efforts)! This is how intellect will divide the reality of our spiritual plight. But in both ways, you will miss the point … the “whole” point.

If you think it is causal and you make efforts to do “great sadhana”, you will fail because it is not causal. Yet, if you conclude that it is acausal, and hence, there is no need to make efforts or why bother, again you will miss! You will have to make all the effort possible, because you are “prepared” through your efforts to be “receptive” when it happens! The reality is: God-realization is acausal. It will “happen” to you; it is not going to happen through your efforts. Your efforts will simply make you “ready”; make you open and vulnerable to the master. The master, seeing the validity and sincerity of your efforts—out of compassion and love—draws you within and takes you on a flight from the known to the unknown … from the self to the total self, to God-realization!

“Come to the edge,” he said. They said: “We are afraid.” “COME TO THE EDGE!” he said. They came. He PUSHED them … and they flew.

(APOLLINAIRE)

For a list of further publications, recorded lectures, or for more information, contact:

Institute for the Study of Human Awareness Inc.

PO Box 991

Palatine, IL. 60078

E-Mail: Isha.info1@gmail.com

Website: www.ishanews.org

Ishwar Puri has lectured throughout the entire world on a very wide variety of subjects including: art, human awareness and human relations, morality, science, philosophy and religion, health and well-being, human consciousness, plus a long list of other subjects which cover the entire scope of human experience. The delivery of each presentation is eloquent, motivating and enlightening. By them, we are encouraged to know and understand ourselves in the truest sense of the Socratic theme “KNOW THYSELF”. And the higher knowledge, which results from self-realization, permits us to better understand other people and the world in which we live.

In the third series of THE ANATOMY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, readers are led on a journey through the various levels and stages of human awareness, and the examination of the nature and structure of the human mind and its limitations. On this journey, we eventually discover that there is, indeed, a much higher level of knowledge, which exists beyond the reach of the human mind. Therefore, the information contained in this book is totally unique. No parallel exists! It reflects the highest flight of philosophy and human understanding!